TomJH

This thread is intended as a tribute to a great actor and star.

When you have great chemistry between two actors it's movie GOLD! It compensates for other weaknesses that may exist in a film.

I'm about to make a sour grapes comment and I apologize in advance since, generally speaking, I'm not one of those who criticizes TCM all that much. But now we know that TCM will undoubtedly have some kind of film tribute to Kirk Douglas, probably in March, because, well, it's inconceivable that they won't. But I recall a thread that I created three years ago asking why the station wasn't having a tribute to Kirk when he was about to turn 100, especially since they had just done it (rightfully so) for Olivia de Havilland. Because the time to have had a film tribute to Kirk was when HE WAS ALIVE (!!!). That way he might have actually shared some of it with us at his home and maybe enjoyed himself in the process. End of gripe because now it's too late and there's nothing we can do about it. Still, where the heck are their programming brains at times?

For my money, the following are the key films in Kirk Douglas's career. I know I will undoubtedly leave out some favourites of other's but these films, for me, are why Kirk should not be forgotten. Champion (1949) The film that made Douglas a star as Midge Kelly, a boxer ruthlessly trampling over others as he shoots for the top in the fight game. Douglas put on an impressive athletic demonstration, one of the highlights being when he jumped rope, including impressive cross overs. Fine support from Arthur Kennedy, Marilyn Maxwell, Ruth Roman. Kirk's first Oscar nomination. Young Man With A Horn (1950) Douglas in a memorable portrait of a jazz trumpet player, based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke. Harry James played the horn behind the scenes to which Kirk impressively lip synched. Great jazz club feel, with an impressive cast including Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Juano Hernandez and Hoagy Carmichael, who knew Beiderbecke. Ace in the Hole (1951) Billy Wilder's memorable corrosive portrait of media ruthlessness, with Douglas in great fantastic form as an unscrupulous reporter who delays rescue plans on a man trapped in a mine to milk the story for all its worth. As cynical a film as you could ever see, with one of my favourite lines Jan Sterling's reaction to going to church: "I don't pray. Kneeling bags my nylons." Detective Story (1951) William Wyler's impressive adaption of the stage success, with Kirk mesmerizing as a detective obsessed with cracking down on criminals. Great supporting cast making strong contributions including Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, George Macready, Joseph Wiseman and Lee Grant. Lust For Life (1956) Douglas got his third Oscar nomination for his vivid portrait of the tortured Vincent Van Gogh. Memorably filmed by Vincent Minnelli at the actual locations of the artist's life. Anthony Quinn won a supporting Oscar for his portrayal of Paul Gaugain. Paths of Glory (1957) Damning anti-war film dealing with French military corruption during WW1. Douglas in one of his best roles, his character representing the conscience of the film as an officer assigned as defence council for three soldiers charged with cowardice. One of Stanley Kubrick's earliest directorial efforts. One of the great films, with outstanding work, aside from Kirk, coming from George Macready, Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Meeker, Timothy Carey. Spartacus (1960) One of the most intelligent of the Roman Empire epics, with Douglas as star and producer, and delivering a sensitive, as well as physically imposing performance. One of the great casts of all film epics, all doing impressive work: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov (who won his first Oscar), Charles Laughton. Douglas was producer, as well as star, helping to end the blacklist by giving Dalton Trumbo screenwriting credit. Kubrick directed most of the film (along with Anthony Mann). Ironically Kubrick later disowned the film which ranks as one of the best of its kind. Lonely Are The Brave (1962) Douglas's favourite film as a loner modern day cowboy on the run from the law. One of the actor's most humane portrayals, this is also Kirk at his most relaxed on screen as a performer. I shake my head that he didn't get an Oscar nomination for this one. Strong support from Walter Matthau and Gena Rowlands. Seven Days In May (1964) One of the great political thrillers directed by John Frankenheimer. Kirk is impressive in a less showy role as a military man who suspects that his commanding officer is involved in plotting a military coup on the American government. Great cast in great form, including Burt Lancaster, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien and George Macready.

Kirk Douglas's stunning political courage In a 2015 statement about the film "Trumbo," Douglas recounted that time to Deadline: "The choices were hard. The consequences were painful and very real. During the blacklist, I had friends who went into exile when no one would hire them; actors who committed suicide in despair ... I was threatened that using a Blacklisted writer for Spartacus -- my friend Dalton Trumbo -- would mark me as a 'Commie-lover' and end my career. "There are times when one has to stand up for principle. I am so proud of my fellow actors who use their public influence to speak out against injustice. At 98 years old, I have learned one lesson from history: It very often repeats itself. I hope that Trumbo, a fine film, will remind all of us that the Blacklist was a terrible time in our country, but that we must learn from it so that it will never happen again." https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/06/opinions/kirk-douglas-profile-in-courage-seymour/index.html

I understand. But you can still delete that comment, if you're of a mind to.

I may be one of the few here whose first viewing of Kirk was arguably the way it should be, up on the big screen, when my parents took me to see LUST FOR LIFE. Now my memories of that viewing are pretty vague as I figure I may have been about five at the time and, as a little kid, I doubt that this tale of a famous artist had quite as much action and adventure in it as I would have liked to see. I do recall seeing Kirk in the corn field trying to chase the crows away as he painted, though. That moment obviously made an impression upon me. Of course, since then I've seen the film a few more times and now appreciate the film's on location shooting, its wonderful use of colour including the actual Van Gogh paintings and, of course, the vividness of Kirk's tortured portrayal. Kirk later stated in an interview I've seen on TCM that this was the one time in his career in which he became so immersed in his character that it was difficult to separate himself from it.

The man just died. LET IT GO!

I think we should skip this question - particularly today.

It's a sad day for fans of Kirk Douglas and movie fans in general. Maybe a few would be interested, though, in reading my anecdote about the day I briefly met him at a Toronto book signing in January, 2002. Here's what I wrote about the incident a few years ago on the TCM boards. Well, I sort of met Kirk at a book signing in 2002, and let me assure you his 5'9" days were long behind him then. But getting smaller as we age is something we can all look forward to (some of us there already, I'm sure). By the way Kirk told the crowd there a few anecdotes, and one of them was in regard to the depression he felt after his stroke. Things got so bad, in fact, that he put a gun in his mouth one day. However, as he did so the gun banged a tooth, and the pain was so bad he quickly withdrew the gun. Kirk laughed about the fact that that sudden toothache saved his life. The book that Kirk was promoting was My Stroke of Luck. I've told this anecdote before so my apologies to those reading it for a second time. Everyone at the store signing paid $25 in advance for Douglas' book, then we were able to get an autograph. But the store was so crowded. There were hundreds there, much to my dismay, and it got hot, really hot waiting for Kirk to appear, as in shoulder to shoulder contact with one another. I was in about the middle of the crowd, wondering how nuts I was to go through this. Anyway, Kirk finally arrived on a platform, accompanied by Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. Michael said a few nice things about his Dad, and, I believe, Catherine said a few things too. Kirk gave his anecdotes then sat down as the book signing began. Well, no one could get near Douglas. He was on a platform at a desk signing away as people would hand their books up to the big security boys on the platform who passed them on to Kirk. People further back in the room, such as where I was, had to pass their book to the person in front of them who would pass it to the one in front of him, etc. till it got to the platform, then, after getting the big KD autograph, it would be passed hand to hand back to the owner. Well, I was still well back from the platform and watched my book get passed hand to hand up to the platform. I saw Kirk sign it then the book was passed back to one of the people by the platform. Hand over hand I saw it coming back in my direction and then - suddenly - it was gone! I'm looking around and starting to sweat and my $25 paid for Kirk Douglas autographed book just got pocketed by someone in the crowd ahead of me! I'm surrounded by heads of people looking for their own book to come back. Then I spot another signed copy coming back in my direction and, quicker than Kirk was in those Spartacus battle scenes, I jumped in the air and snagged the book for myself. Sorry if someone there lost out on a signed copy of the book they paid for. I was just determined that that someone wasn't going to be me! After getting the book I squeezed myself out of the crowd and just watched the book signing from a distance. After a while I noticed that security was putting up some yellow tape along the left side of the room. Everyone else was still looking up at the platform where Kirk was and not paying much attention. However, I had a hunch about that taped off section so moved over to the tape. Sure enough about 15 minutes later Kirk was leaving the room through that taped off section smiling and waving to the crowd. I stuck my mitt out as he passed by and got a handshake, probably one of only three or four in the room who did. "I just shook the hand of Spartacus," I thought at the time. That was my one and only book signing and while I'm glad I went I doubt there will be another one for me. I'm just not spry enough to snatch a book out of the air anymore. Kirk looking triumphant at his 2002 Toronto book signing

He was, after all, 103 and we all knew it but a matter of time. Still, I can't help but feel a pang of grief at news of the death of Kirk Douglas, one of the last iconic stars associated with Golden Age Hollywood. Kirk was known for his trademark intensity as an actor and often played unscrupulous characters, such as the boxer in Champion (the film that made him a star) and Ace in the Hole as a reporter who delays operations on a man trapped in a mine to help boost sales of his newspaper copy. But he could also play men of decency and integrity, such as the military officer defending three men accused of treason in Paths of Glory or the cowboy living out of his time in Lonely Are The Brave. As well as these characters Douglas had the physique and temperament to also play larger than life heroes, such as when he had the title role in Spartacus. And can anyone who saw his tortured portrait of Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life ever forget his anguished portrayal? There are so many indelible images that Douglas left us on the screen, but he was also a celebrated author and film producer. One of the accomplishments for which he was most proud was when he helped to break the Hollywood blacklist by giving screenwriter Dalton Trumbo screen credit for Spartacus. Rather appropriately, the last film in which I saw Kirk just a couple of months ago was Lonely Are The Brave, the actor's favourite of his career. Kirk Douglas is a star who won't be forgotten. RIP Kirk Douglas.

Duel in the Sun (1946) David O. Selznick's big budget sexy western (nicknamed "Lust in the Dust" by some) was the producer's attempt to top Gone With The Wind, as well as promote the career of actress Jennifer Jones, his future wife. While the film fails to supplant GWTW on Selznick's film resume it remains a big, at times silly, but still hugely entertaining affair, boasting a superior cast giving generally fine performances, particularly among the supporting players, impressive art direction, a booming, at times, passionate, musical score and some of the most stunning Technicolor photography seen in any Hollywood studio film during the 1940s. It's the tale of Pearl Chavez, as played by Jones, a half breed Indian who, following the deaths of her parents, is taken in by her father's cousin on a sprawling Texas ranch where she will meet two brothers. One will be "good" while the other one will help to lead her down the path of temptation and sin. Pearl struggles with the desire to be "a good girl," unlike her Apache mother when it comes to promiscuity but it's a struggle she will lose, thanks to Lewt McCanles, the ranch owner's younger son, your classic "bad boy," as played by Gregory Peck. There is an inherent racism in the film's screenplay with its implication that Pearl's succumbing to the temptations of the flesh are due to her Indian heritage. With the usual double standard, of course, Peck's young white character is merely sowing his wild oats while Pearl, on the other hand, will be deemed "bad" for being his girl. Peck seems strange casting as the bad son, who just gets worse as the film proceeds, while Joseph Cotten, as the "good" son has relatively little to do to make any real impression (this would be one of four films in which Cotten and Jones were co-starred). Jennifer Jones would receive an Oscar nomination for her work as Pearl in the performance of her career for which I remember her the most. Overplayed as some of the sexy scenes may be (pretty well cartoonish is one scene, in particular, in which Jones lies in bed wrestling with her sexual desires as Lewt plays a serenading guitar outside only to finally succumb to the inevitable and pose like a hooker for him in the window) the actress is generally persuasive in her role and fun to watch. The film's supporting cast is truly exceptional. Lionel Barrymore is loud and stubborn as the patriarch of the family, while Lillian Gish (in an Oscar nominated performance) is charming and sensitive as his wife in a difficult marriage. Herbert Marshall is outstanding in his few scenes at the film's beginning as Pearl's father, a Southerner of artistocratic refinement who "surrendered" his honour and dignity years before by marrying a promiscuous Indian (again, that racism in the film's screenplay), thus degrading him. There is also a really fun colourful turn by Walter Huston as the "Sin Killer," a gun wielding "minister" who roams the countryside and preaches against the evils of sin and, in particular, lust. "Pearl," he proclaims upon first meeting her, "you're curved in the flesh of temptation. Resisting's going to be a darned sight harder for you than for females protected by the shape of sows." "Part Injun, ain't you," he says, cuddling her hand as he leans in towards her. There are flashbacks here to Huston's portrayal of Reverend Davidson in Rain. Unfortunately Butterfly McQueen is also along, in a repeat performance of her portrayal of a dim wit servant in GWTW. Once was quite enough, thank you. King Vidor directs the film to a great lavish start with its introduction of Pearl dancing outside a palatial saloon and gambling house where her Apache mother (Tilly Losch) seductively dances on a huge stage inside to the whoops and hollers of hundreds of male customers. Her husband (Marshall) who wears a Confederate uniform, plays cards nearby while watching her being grabbed and kissed by one of the customers, with whom she will soon disappear. Chavez is being scoffed at by the other card players because of his wife but he is about to assert his vengeance. This opening sequence is one of the true colourful highlights of the film. There is, unfortunately, little in the way of real action in Duel in the Sun for western fans, though there is a big expansive scene in which hundreds of stunt men ride horses across the country, as lead by Barrymore, who is strapped to a horse, to confront the construction workers of a railroad about to invade Barrymore's land. The film ends memorably with a confrontation in rock strewn country under a blazing sun (filmed in Arizona). During this sequence, beautifully photographed, the big, impassioned musical score of Dimitri Tiomkin plays an immeasurable role. With her crawling over rocks and falling off boulders I have to wonder how physically taxing this sequence must have been on Miss Jones and any stunt doubles she had. As over the top (amusingly so) as Duel in the Sun may be, at times, there is too much expert studio craftsmanship involved in a production like this to dismiss it. It may be a good film, rather than the great one that Selznick had ambitiously envisioned, but it still commands your attention. 3 out of 4

Roscoe Karns as motor mouth Smiley in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT made an impression for obnoxiousness. Believe You Me. "I just love a hot mamma who can sling 'em back at you."

"Whatta ya want from me? Can I help it if everyone's attracted to my natural magnetism?"

While I haven't been particularly exposed to them I suspect there really are some cuckoo clocks like Wiseman played in the real world. But that doesn't mean you have to like them.

"You despise me, don't you, Rick?' "If I gave you any thought I probably would." One of my favourite dialogue exchanges in Casablanca. Peter Lorre's Ugarte is knocked off far, far too early but he is one of my favourite characters in the film despite that. Lorre's slimy little murderous scoundrel who somehow respects Rick (though that respect is not returned) is just so much fun to watch in this film. And, limited screen time or not, is there anyone who watches Casablanca that doesn't remember his performance?

A great performance.

Juano Hernandez as an old time jazz trumpet man in YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN. Hernandez memorably brought dignity, as well as a gentility to his role. Here he is listening to Harry James, I mean, Kirk Douglas play.

Joseph Wiseman in DETECTIVE STORY for his violent over acting. (Either that or he was a perfect psychotic, in which case he's still irritating as Hell). "Me? Over act? What a laugh! WHAT A LAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!"

A small but hilarious performance by Marjorie Main as the Widow Hudspeth in FRIENDLY PERSUASION

Isabel Jewell brought a trembling vulnerability to her brief scene as a seamstress facing the guillotine in A TALE OF TWO CITIES, sharing Ronald Colman's last moments before he did a "far far better thing . . .."

I'd like to give a plug for a Ryan performance that no one has mentioned. That's as the tired old time gunman turned town sheriff and now in the back pocket of the cattle baron who owns the town in Burt Lancaster's Lawman (1971). Ryan gives the most complex portrayal in the film, reminding me of the subtle nuances that he brought to his role as the former bandit in The Wild Bunch.

Walter Huston as the gun wielding Sin Killer in DUEL IN THE SUN. The way he looks at Jennifer Jones you have the impression that he's fighting the desire for some sinnin' of his own.

Your top ten list hits most of the films that I would include, Detective Jim, particularly On Dangerous Ground and The Wild Bunch. Here's a review I wrote a few years ago of the film which probably has my favourite Ryan performance. The Set Up (1949) Coming two years after the success of Body and Soul and released just before Champion, director Robert Wise's The Set Up, unlike the other two boxing dramas, deals exclusively with the down and outers in the sport. There are no championship belts to be found in this film. It's the sleazy side of a seedy sport, concentrating on an aging fighter who still dreams of that one big punch one day that will give him a shot at something big. Paradise City, the setting of the film, represents all the small time dive towns of lost hopes, cheap liquor and gambling greed. It is there that Stoker Thompson (Robert Ryan), an ancient fighter at 35, is set on the undercard against an upcoming young fighter promoted by a gambling hood. Stoker thinks he can take the kid. His girl (Audrey Totter) is tired of it all, afraid that Stoker will get brain damaged or killed. She wants them to work a cigar stand somewhere instead. But Stoker's a fighter, and fighting is all he knows. What Stoker doesn't know, however, is that his sleazy manager has agreed that he will take a fall in that fight. The seedy ambience of the small town is magnificently realized in this atmospheric small budget gem, with its flashing neons and restless crowds strolling the streets looking for some kind of action. The billboard on the town arena says it all "Boxing Wednesdays. Wrestling Fridays." The atmosphere is carnival like. A good portion of the film, though, is set in the small change room of the fighters, as the boxers prepare for battle that night. One is a youngster about to have his first fight, who throws up when he hears what another boxer just did in the ring. Another is a tough blowhard, looking forward to his date with "a mouse" that night, while another, clearly nearing the punch drunk stage, repeats the name of another fighter who, after losing 21 fights in a row, got a shot at a championship and somehow won. And then there's Stoker, who listens to the others while worrying if his girl will show up at the fight. Robert Ryan, as Stoker, is tired but hopeful. Later he will be scared as he runs for his life. Not at this moment, though, as he feels he can beat "the kid" that is getting the buildup. A middle aged Ryan has a wealth of experience behind his tired eyes. But he also brings a grim determination and fighting spirit to his part. Audrey Totter, a film noir icon, brings that same tired anguish to her role as Stoker's girl, and is memorably quite wonderful. Also making vivid impressions are George Tobias as Stoker's sweaty, cigar chomping manager, Percy Helton as his equally sweaty pot bellied squirt of an assistant, both of them strictly out for themselves, as well as Alan Baxter as "Little Boy," the gangster who expects Stoker to take a fall, cool and cold blooded, with a quiet expression that undoubtedly masks a soulless interior. The fight scenes are savage and unglamourous, with an off balance fighter knocked down before stumbling to his feet again to wail back into battle. Wise also has frequent cutaway shots to the ring spectators, the sweaty fat man eating junk food, laughing at a fighter as he stumbles, the woman, forever shouting, "Let 'em fight. Kill him!," and the blind man leaning forward to receive a running commentary on the action from a friend. Wise's film is an uncompromising look at the low side of an often dirty sport. And yet there is still an element of hope to be found here. At the end, as a man's head is being cradled in a woman's arms, The Set Up is a film that burns with humanity.